THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1927. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5211, 2 December 1927, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1927. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

At a special meeting ofi the Paeroa Borough Council last night to consider the tenders for the erection of the swimming baths, a resolut’on was passed referring the tenders back to the finance committee; to report to the first meeting of the council.

The following are the vital statistics for Paeroa for the month of. November, the figures in pi’renthe.is being for the corresponding period in 1926 : Births, 7 (9) ; deaths. 0 (2) ; marriages, 1 (5).

The Piako River is still very low above Kerepeehi, and the Patetonga cargo launch now has to work according to the tides. So far, the cream launch, which is of a shallower draft, has not altered its time-table, but this is to be expected unless rain comes to raise the water level. The lowness of the river is undoubtedly due; in a large measure to the dredging operations about Ngatea. One of the Lands Department’s dredges is not able to float to new work above Ngarua.

On Tuesday evening the half-yearly meeting of the Loyal Jubilee Lodge, Manchester Unity' Oddfellows, was held. The election of officers resulted as fallows : N. G., Sister E. Freeman ; I. P.N.G., Bro. D. S. Snow; V. G:, Bro, F. Davies ; E, S., Sister Bertelseu; treasurer, Bro. R. W. Medhurst P.G. The Lodge, in expressing to the permanent secretary (Sister Iris Taylor) appreciation of her untir'ng efforts and enthusiasm in the Lodge and Order, stressed the fact of the interest shown by sisters of the lodge generally.

Over 3,000,000 flies were, “swatted” in Australia as a result of, a “Health Week” campaign conducted by a Melbourne newspaper. The winner of the competition was a ten-year-old boy, Vincejnt Palamara, who produced evidence that he had “swatted” 266,000 flies during his week of slaughter. The second prize went to a bov who accounted for 98,000, and the third to another boy, who killed 64,000.

“The pakeha. is copying the fashion of the Maoris,” remarked Wharehuia Rangiheue.a, a prominent Arawa chief touring with the Maori mission party to a gathering in the Gisborne city hall the, other evening (says the “Times”). He kept the audience in suspense as to the fashion the pakehas were copying, and then remarked : “A little while ago you saw me in Maori vostume;, short trousers, a short dress barely to the knees outs'de, and nd sleeves.” The crowd laughed hilariously as they visualised the pakeha flapper of to-day.

A certain well-known and reputable representative of a Cambridge business flrm liurr'edly made his way to the police station In a state of breathless excitement, and reported that a sum of £6O in cash bad been stolen from 'his car. The report soon spread through the town that a sensational robbery had taken place. According to the informant’s statement, he bad a sum of £6O in cash in a small briefbag in his car to meet payments for certa’n purchases. He left his car for not more; than a minute, and on returning found the brief-bag missing. The police immediately made inquiries. with the happy result that the bag was found on a toble in an hotel, with the money intact. The man in question states that he is quite sure he left the bag in the ca.r, but it is thought he took it with him and forgot that he had done so.

It is evident that not all the freaks of nature are to be found in circuses and side-shows (says tiie “Southland Times”). Particulars of a remarkable freak calf owned by Mr F. Wybrow, Waikawa, have been given by a Waikawa resident. This animal has four eyes, two mouths, two sets of ■nostrils, and two tongues. It is the offspring of a Shorthorn heifer and is a first calf. Apart from its pecular head, it is quite normal, having an ordinary body and legs. It is now a few days old, and is being fed by the bottle. Some difficulty is experienced in feeding it, as two bottles are needed to supply the twin mouths.

A pair of heavy boots protruding from under the bed disturbed the peace of mind of a lady about to retire to beid in a Kaikoura hotel last Monday She lost no time in giving the alarm, and on the arrest of the prowler being made by the constable, it was discovered that the man was an inmate of the Sunnyside Mental Hospital, who had escaped on Sunday. He was returned to the institution on Tuesday.

A cheque for £lO2, which belonged to Mr R. C. Saxon, of Morrinsville, was given to a man to post, but he failed to do so- Later in the day two little children walked into Miss Fielder’s tea-rooms and said, “You buy these, don’t you ?” Miss Fielder, seeing the size of the cheque, knew that there was something wrong. The children, when questioned, said that they had found the, cheque in a wastepaper box, and were apparently much disappointed when told that they could not have half the money each. The bank manager and the owner of the cheque, wer© communicated with and the matter nut right.

"Crimes of violence) and the very rough types of men of twenty or thirty years ago are on the decrease,” states the annual report of the Wellington Discharged Prisoners’ Aid Society The dipsomaniac i.s always with us, a.nd does not differ materially from his forebear's, but the better educated and apparently more refined type of man is greatly in evidence. And, although a more general spread of education may produce the forger and the false pretences man instead of the highwayman and bushranger, the bettejr educational standards make it less difficult to reason with the modern criminal, and, to a very large extent, the .hope of his reformation is there.”

“It is the considered opinion of the board of directors of th© Burrough’s Adding Machine Company and their special staff that the most economical advertising medium in the world is the newspaper; newspapers are the foundation of our . publicity department,” said A. J. Hutchinson, general manager for New Zealand for the company, at an address given at Auckland on Tuesday, to the Auckland Advertising Club. Mr Hutchinson stated a little reflection should convince any man that the newspaper was the most economical medium. Let them take, for example, tiie circulation of a newspaper, and compare it with what could be done through the medium of a circular, or by any other method. Spasmodic advertising was a waste of money, and had proved a failure.

One, often hears of money to burn, but it is seldom seen, so there is probably some, excuse for the caretaker of a local theatre who swept up a perfectly good “flver” and two "single notes the, other day and nearly made one of the leading banks wtefilthier by that amount (says the Taranaki Herald). A lady reported the loss of the monej' to the police, who inquired at the theatre for a handbag. None., ■however, had been found, and the recovery of. the money looked rather hopeless when the following morning the lady happened casually to inquire of the caretaker again. He was sorry, but no bag had been found. “Oh, it wasn’t in a handbag,” corrected the lady, “it was loose.” There was now only one hope left—the sweepings tin. Fortunately it was rescued before destruction, and after some search amongst the rubbish the “flver’ was salvaged, and then the two single notes, which were returned to a gladdened owner.

The, grounds of the Ngatea school were the scene; of a successful garden party on the afternoon and evening of Tuesday, the function being arranged to raise funds for the building of a Presbyterian Church. The ?heltershe.d and a large marquee were used as stalls, and numerous competitions were held. In the evening the grounds were lighted with numerous electric lights and there was dancing in the open air.

The existence of gold on the West Coast is evidently a fact of which American w'sitors are well aware (says the Grey River Argus). The other day, when passing through the Otira Gorge, quartz specimens in Kelly’s Creek were secured by a number of tourists from the United. States, who intend taking them back to America for an assay. The average West Coaster is scarcely interested nowadays in such possibilities, but evidently the quartz in the locality mentioned must have come from the outcrop of a gold-bearing reef. in the ranges, for the pieces contained good traces of the precious metal.

- The Takapuna Jockey Club’s Spring Meet'ng occupies a prominent place in the, pictorial section of this week’s issue of the “N.Z. Sporting and Dramatic Review,” while a, further set of illustrations appear of the Otaliuhu Trotting Club’s fixture. The centre double page is particularly effective with its artistic display of overseas photographs. Stage and film will attract keen attention, and amongst a wide selection of miscellaneous pictures of New Zealand interest are the reunion in Auckland of tile “Old Contemptible;s,” Invercargill fire, opening of Napier swimming season, the Military Sports Association’s athletic meeting at Carlaw Park, etc.